Are hockey rinks the best use of infrastructure dollars or would schools, water treatment plants and sewage treatment plants have been more appropriate?
Reserves to see boom in rink building
Thu, 2009-10-22 21:17
#1
My Cat Knows Better
Reserves to see boom in rink building
Thu, 2009-10-22 21:28
#2
I don't know. Probably all of those things would be appropriate and very necessary. It's probably best to see what people from those communities think. The ones quoted in the article seem happy about it, because it will engage the young people in the community. I'd be interested in hearing more from the perspective of people from First Nations communities.
Looks like they're playing some politics, however, when it comes to which ridings get the most funding, which isn't surprising.
Thu, 2009-10-22 22:03
#3
My Cat Knows Better
Clearly the Harper government is playing politics. I didn't get that the recipients of the hockey rinks were all that happy with the outcome, but that they were willing to take what they could get given that getting anything from the federal government is a rare thing. You might want to check the following links to get a better picture of how bad things are in Ontario's north.
At the end of my career while still in Northern Ontario, it became a yearly event when the town of Attawapiskat was evacuated due to flooding. Nearly the entire population would be moved to Timmins, or Sudbury. After the flooding subsided the residents were shipped back to the same flood damaged houses that they lived in the previous year. Harper has promised in the past to act but nothing ever happens. After making some noises about rebuilding the town, the political heat is off and the government moves on to more pressing issues, such as ignoring the issues related to the manufacturing industry, or the sale of the country's resources to foreign interests.
http://www.wawataynews.ca/archive/all/2009/4/7/INAC-negligent-in-Attawapiskat-Charlie-Angus_16399